


Somewhere in the South of France

by ferretboyandpotty



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Astronomy, Cars and Motorbikes, Education, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Angst, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Moving On, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Redemption, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, but angst with a happy ending, emotional scars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:01:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29359941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferretboyandpotty/pseuds/ferretboyandpotty
Summary: A ‘Call Me By Your Name’ AU. A dead ex-boyfriend was all it took for Harry to de-rail, but after months of poorly made decisions, he was not going to take the route of something that he was never destined to be. He learns that Lucius is a good teacher, Narcissa is great at giving advice, and Draco... well Draco warms up to people eventually, even if you’ve damaged him in the past. But now it’s all about moving forward.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Somewhere in the South of France

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!  
> Just to let y’all know that this follows the same basis of the book/movie ‘Call Me By Your Name’. Everything else is different apart from the main points of the plot. Don’t worry if you’ve never seen cmbyn! It makes sense either way and you can take it as a completely new story. I just wanted to tell you that this fic was inspired by it!

You can only go forwards once you’ve stopped going backwards. Harry’s had to tell himself that every time something has happened in his life that he has to move on from. 

It was easy to remember when it was only a rough day at work that he had to get through. It wasn’t as easy to remember when his boyfriend died. 

Ex-boyfriend. He has to remind himself. 

That day is a blur in Harry’s mind, and he thinks maybe that’s the reason why he can’t go ahead. He’s simply forgotten, because nothing is worse than coming home and finding your boyfriend, your whole world and the reason you keep breathing, dead with an empty phial in his hand. At least, that’s what Harry thinks happened, because he sure as hell can’t ask his dead ex or try and recall the events of that day. 

It’s been seven years since they started working together, six years since they started dating, four since they moved in and two since he died. 

And now Harry is a single, twenty-six year old man with a troubled past and a life he doesn’t know what to do with. Auror work wasn’t the same without Jacob’s comforting presence behind him. 

A month after it happened, Hermione found Harry passed out in the toilets of a muggle pub. A year after it happened, Ron had to pull Harry out of the pond by the Burrow on Christmas day. 

And now two years, Harry is at the Ministry with shrunken luggage and a brain ready to learn.

“Astronomy.” Ron’s jaw drops to the floor.

“You’re studying Astronomy?” Hermione asks, tucking a deviant strand of unruly brown hair behind her ear.

“I knew you wouldn’t have liked it.” He sighs, feeling a prickly sensation behind his eyes. He was not going to cry, definitely not while in the ministry. And besides, it’s his life, isn’t it? 

“Well it’s not that we don’t like it, Harry, but I don’t remember you being too fond of the subject at school...” Hermione says, squeezing his hand so tight that his fingers turn white.

“I think I was too busy trying to defeat Voldemort to care about studying stars-“

“Astronomy isn’t just about studying stars, Harry. Are you really sure you want to do this? And are you sure it’s a great idea leaving so far from home?”

“Hermione, I’ve thought this through.” He replies quickly.

“But you’ve never been to France before, and you don’t know anyone who lives there.” Hermione says sternly.

“I do, actually.” Harry say, matter-of-factly.

“Who?”

“Lucius Malfoy.” 

“Why on earth would you-“ Hermione starts and then pauses once her brain has pieced it all together, “Lucius Malfoy is teaching you Astronomy.”

“What?” Ron shouts, attracting attention from the others in the Transportation Department.

“After the war,” Hermione begins to say, putting on her fact-telling voice “the Malfoy’s were booted off to their estate in France because they were no longer accepted in the British Wizarding World.”

“How do you know this?” Ron asks, baffled.

“I read Lucius Malfoy’s Astronomy book when I went to visit France with my parents.” She shrugs her shoulders, looking sheepish.

“And you’re really going to have him teach you? Do you have a place to stay?” Ron says, exasperated. His eyes are blown wide and his face is growing red. 

“I’m staying with them. I owled ahead and found out they lived in the middle of no-where.” 

“You’re-“ Ron’s voice becomes loud again, and he tones it down before he carries on “you’re staying with them? Harry, you have to be joking, you couldn’t even handle being in the same castle as Malfoy and now you’re sharing a house with him and his nutty family?” 

“Well, Ron-“

“Why on earth would you ever stay with them? And why on earth would they ever willingly want you in? Lucius Malfoy is going to murder you, Harry. Actually murder you. And I’m sure Malfoy Jr won’t hesitate to help!” He’s shouting again, and Hermione is clutching onto Ron’s shoulder with bruising force.

“Give me a second to explain, Ron! Merlin.” Harry exclaims, nearly at the same volume as Ron, before talking a deep breath. “I want to learn Astronomy. And surprisingly, I’d like to learn Astronomy with Lucius Malfoy. And I’m aware that I’m putting myself at risk but this is something that I want to do. And don’t ask me why because I don’t know myself. Believe or not, I do trust Lucius. And I’m tired of my life and I’m tired of England and I’m tired of-“ Harry stops himself before finishing that sentence. 

“You’re tired of us?” Hermione replies quietly. Her eyebrows have drooped and her nervous tic of pulling at her hair has started.

“No, of course not.” He sighs. There’s an awkward air between them, growing tense and filling the whole atrium with static.

“Is this because of what happened to Jacob?” Ron says suddenly, face ashen at the meaning of what he’s just said and the fact that he had just said it.

Harry’s breath is caught high behind his throat, and he thinks he’s let out a gasp, until he looks at Hermione and her mouth is open. 

Harry can’t think of what to say, but only because it’s true. Harry knew, through all his drinking and silent pondering, that one day he’ll snap and make a rash decision. Ever since it happened, it’s always been Jacob. Everything he has done was for Jacob. He can feel himself floating away from the conversation, his heart pumping blood too fast around his head and he feels light-headed. 

“Harry...” Hermione says sullenly, breaking him out of his familiar disassociation. The hot tears that threaten to spill over just minutes before come back in powerful waves, and Harry can feel the thrum of his magic right up to his fingertips. Breathe, breathe, breathe.

“No, it’s okay.” Harry replies, picking up his satchel full of all his personal belongings and pulling it up his shoulder. “I’d better be off, I’ll miss the portkey.”

Hermione snatches his wrist before he even has a chance to step away, and pulls him into a bone-crushing hug. He pets at her hair in a comforting affirmation. He knows, and she knows, and Ron knows and everyone else in the ministry surrounding them knows. 

Ron pulls at his shoulder and presses his head deep into the place that links Harry’s head to his shoulder. “Sorry.” He says, roughly, squeezing too tight for both of their likings but getting the meaning across anyway.

“You better owl us.” Hermione says, smiling, even though there’s a small tear trickling down her cheek. “I really want to know how this turns out.”

“I will. I promise.” Harry smiles. He gives Hermione a kiss on the cheek, not caring about the salty tears and lets Ron slap him on the shoulder in an affectionate gesture. He manages to make it to his portkey right on time, and he shuffles up between a wizard with a thick moustache and a lady with a large dead bird on her hat. He grabs on to a small silver teaspoon and takes a deep breath in before he starts his new adventure. He still has a lot to figure out. Maybe it’ll help.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for a short chap, posting will be inconsistent, sorry!  
> Find me on tumblr @ferretboyandpotty <3


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